FIGHTING FOR BEADS !
SAMBURU AND RENDILLE PASSION
FOR BEADS ORNAMENTS IN KENYA.
Eric Lafforgue
Samburu and Rendille live in north Kenya, they are both pastoralists and semi
nomadics. They look very close to each others, only the language is different.
They have in common the passion for beaded jewelry.
Beaded adornments are worn mainly for their beauty, but it also can tell about
relationships or special events.
It is not only tradition, but a sophisticated and evolving fashion!
From their young age, Samburu
girls are offered strings of beads by
their fathers. The first layers of
necklaces are usually red, as it
means the girl is engaged. It can
be at a very early age…
Before getting married, teenagers enjoy a degree of sexual freedom. You can spot them with the heavy
beaded necklaces , given to them by their boyfriend, a Moran (warrior) usually from her clan or even her family.
The girls become nekarai: steady girlfriends and
sexual partners. At this occasion, her parents
must build her a house, where the Moran is
allowed to engage in sexual activity with her.
Lariyon is 15: « once married, i will have to remove the giant necklace offered by my boyfriend, and give it back
to him, and i ‘ll need to forget him. As my parents have already chosen another man for me, from another clan »
The price of the necklaces can be up to 100
us dollars, and must be purchased from
Nairobi, a huge amount for those nomads.
Namusungu is 18, he is Samburu and lives in
Ngurunit, he has been circumcised one year
ago, and is a Moran:
« to show my love to my girlfriend, I need to
buy her a huge necklace, but the priced is too
high for me, so I have to conduct a raid with
my warrior friends in the neighbouring tribes
to steal them some cows. Then I’ll sell the
cows to get some money ».
Elisabeth is 16, she lives in Ngurunit: « Teachers at school try to make us stop wearing beads in
order to stop the cattle raids, but i like to wear the beads for our ceremonies! »…
The neck of the girls and their necklaces are
smeared with red ochra to avoid skin scratching
This woman wears the Nkaiweli on her left ear: a special earring that means she has already 2 or
3 of her sons being circumcised.
The women wear a brass earring to indicate they are married.
The women wear a lot of decoration on the head, made from Entai (buttons), from Ntarangrang (sequins) and
Sayen (beads). All those decorations are expensive and most of the times, they exchange goats against them.
The beads will show status and wealth.
The beads also refer to different periods of importance in the women life, as special patterns are used for
special events. A necklace can be read as a history of their lives, it also can be seen as a a diary.
Only in Rendille tribe, the women wear the famous Mpooro Engorio, the wedding necklace, also worn for
ceremonies. It is made of giraffe or elephants tail hair , special beads that were formerly found in Ethiopia,
and that are becoming very rare.
The Mpooro Engorio necklace has
become rare as the giraffe and
elephants have nearly disappeared
from the region, and they are also
protected from hunting.
The curios shops owners also chase
those artifacts to sell them to tourists.
Nowadays, doum palm fronds fibres
are used instead of animal hair.
Mariam: « Many people tried to buy
my Mpooro Engorio necklace but I
want to keep it, this is the only one
remaining in my village and even for
200 euros I won’t sell it! It may also
bring bad luck to me if I sell it»
A hair style in the form of an
elegant crest (doko) is worn by
Rendille women whose first-born
is a son and they keep it until the
death of the son or of the father.
In the old times, the doko was
made with the own hair of the
woman, so they could not remove
it. Nowadays they wear an
removable version of the Doko,
made of weaving, red ochra, and
butter.
Women like to wear an cross shaped ornament on the top of their head
The cross has no religious significance, even if most of them are now christians.
Marnay bracelets are worn by everybody : adults people… Made of beads and inner tubes !
Brass ankles: when they
wear just one, it is called
Surutei, when they wear
many, it is called Surutia.
This strange earring is called Lodin, or Nshidai.
Each color has a meaning: white is purity and
health because it represents milk which comes
from a cow , black is hardship, yellow and
orange melted are for hospitality because it is
the color of the animal skins on guest beds,
red signifies danger, bravery and unity.
Necklaces can even have magic powers : If a woman is sterile, she must see a witch doctor who will give her a collar of pearls. She must
go to the first born man of a house, tie him with the necklace, and then leave with it. 3 months later, she may be pregnant. On the other
hand, the man that she tied up with the necklace will become crazy or sick (the fortune of one will be the misfortune of the other).
Beads are everywhere, it is a real evolving fashion that mixes with modern stuff like watches, phones…
Even the remote tribes are
touched by chinese flood: few
years ago, the plastic flowers have
become part of the daily
decoration on young people!
Eric Lafforgue
+33633053451
[email protected]
www.ericlafforgue.com